#fuse bead patterns

[perlervocas]

Yokune Ruko perler bead pattern!

Free to use; reblogs appreciated!

[vykavolt]

here are some perler bead patterns that i made of the promo kids! feel free to use these for whatever you want. i don't care whether or not you credit me, but i'd love to see it if you make any stuff with these!

this is my kandipatterns account if you want to look at the other patterns that i've made. most of them are sprites from video games, so these are the first original patterns of mine.

[the-headless-horsedude]

i had to make them, i HAD to

[showtimeatfreddys]

Bonnie Pixel Art!!!

I did some Bonnie pixel art; the first one is digital, and the second I did with Perler beads. Feel free to use the pattern for your own projects (fuse beads, embroidery, etc) :). I’ll probably turn mine into a keychain 🤔😊

should I do the other animatronics?

Also, yes I will continue to post FNAF stuff. Should I post some more stuff for my other fandoms? Probably. But I do not control the hyperfocus, the hyperfocus controls ME

[alizalayne]

Hello! this will be a quick process post so that you can see how I needlefelted a fursuit head!

I began by following the "bucket head" tutorial by Matrices, then added a layer of polyfill so that I wouldn't use as much of my merino wool. This is how I typically make a doll head, my "core wool" is often polyfill because it really likes to clump together and fuse.

Overall, this project took about two months of my spare time. This is the first fursuit head I have made, but not my first needlefelt project.

I would really like to encourage other people to try making masks this way! You can do any kind of subtle color with wool and the wool fiber is very cheap. If you wanted to make a fursuit head with the entirety of starry night flowing over it, or a head with tons and tons of complex colors, I think wool might be the best material. I also did not need to know how to pattern or sew in order to make this-- it was sculpture rather than sewing, which I am bad at.

The rest under the cut!

Another angle where you can see that I am building up the structure of the head.

I then made the ears, which are translucent because they're felted, just like real ears!

I wasn't happy yet with the proportions at this point, so I spent a lot of time figuring that out and deciding where and how I'd be placing the eyes.

I made a pair of sculpey follow-me eyes by using a little soy sauce dish as a concave circular mold and tried a foam clay nose and teeth. The sculpey eyes could be more successful, they took a lot of shaving and adjusting to get right and they eventually cracked from the strain I'd put them through while making them more shallow. For a while, I intended to make wefts of white wool to use on the sides of the head, but I ended up preferring a domestic shorthair head shape because it reads the most clearly as a cat vs any other animal.

I originally intended to have the eyes behind clear plastic domes and used "shaker domes" that people use to make greeting cards to cover the eye, but in the end they made the eyes too dull. I made foam clay housing for the eyes and painted it pink with acrylic paint. I used stick-on car window tint to create the pupils. My visibility inside the head is really good!

Finally, after fiddling, one of the eyes was deeper than the other and I had to re-set both to account for it. I added spot glitter on top of the acrylic paint on the eye using some gold watercolor paint I had, which was silly because I'll need to wash the head at some point. I will probably seal the eyes before washing and hope for the best. I intend to spot clean the head until it absolutely needs to be washed, at which point I'll remove some pieces or find a way to protect them while soaking the head in a cool dr. bronner's bath.

I glued down a layer of felt fiber on top of the foam clay "tear ducts" and then felted new fiber over the tear duct skin and cheeks to blend them into the face. I also removed the teeth and closed her mouth because I didn't have time to adjust the teeth as much as I wanted before the con that my friends and I attended. I would like to modify this head so that she can open and close her mouth.

Lastly, I added wire whiskers with little glass beads looped onto the ends and paper eyelashes that I also watercolored and sealed, like the insides of the eyes. Like I said before, it's gonna be a problematic wash, but I'm confident I'll figure it out, and I can always repair her or replace her lashes if something goes wrong.

Last thing, to keep the inside of the head nice and cool and prevent fogging since in the end I closed the mouth and had sealed eyes, I made a snorkel out of a snorkel mouthpiece fitted into two collapsible auto funnels.

I would say that realistically this entire project cost me less than $150. I had some materials lying around, like the wire and the beads and the sculpey.

I added two ear vents on either side of the head so that I had options on where to feed the snorkel out. If you look at the other pictures on the blog of me wearing the head, you mostly can't even see the snorkel mouth. However, it was a little problematic to let go of the snorkel to talk. it would be perfect for a silent suiter, but I'm lucky that so many people wanted to talk to me. I'd like to try and replace the snorkel mouth with something I can talk in, but I'm not sure what to use. It should be something that can create a seal to keep my breath out of the head. it's possible that I will be able to make something with a painter's mask.

I hid the "seam" between the head and my body with two yards of tulle tied into a big bow and sewn down onto the neck so that it wouldn't move around.

I hope that if you try making something similar you'll show it to me!

[silver-velvet-860]

More pixel coaches (and how I make them!)

From left to right: Niki (Soy Yo), Moxie (Hollaback Girl), Maps, Fun, and Talk Extreme

I wasn’t going to stop after 100! People have been big fans of these little things and wanted to know how I make them. So I took pictures of the process of creating them. (The full process is under this cut.)

I use Perler beads to make these coaches. They can be found in just about any craft store, or on the official website. I use a large square 29x29 pegboard, although occasionally I connect smaller 17x17 pegboards if the design needs more space, like what I did here with Moxie.

Every design starts out with this simple base right here:

Then I figure out who I want to make and look up references. I choose the color palette from the images and pull out some colors that I might use. Sometimes these can change.

Next, I change the outline of the base, adding and removing beads to shape it into a new figure. Once that’s done, I begin to add color, beginning with the outfit. I outline certain parts that will be filled in with color. Sometimes I look back at previous coaches for help— for example, I looked at Troublemaker for help for the beanie.

Once the colors are all set, I do one last look-through and change aspects that I feel need changing. For example, I decided to change Talk Extreme’s hair color, since I believed that there was another color that looked more like the original. The way my storage system works lets me take color samples directly off the storage drawers (they’re held there with the power of Velcro) and compare them to the design in front of me. I recommend making a color key for your perler beads, it’s very useful!

(A brief note: it's important to be aware of what your hands and/or sleeves are doing around the board. Accidents can happen, such as when I dropped my phone onto the pegboard and messed up a 90% done Maps…)

Once the design is finalized, it's time to fuse the beads. I use parchment paper and a basic clothes iron on a normal, non-steam heat setting. It's important to iron in slow circles so that every bead gets melted properly. Certain colors also melt more quickly than others. Once the design starts to show through the paper and the beads' holes become small, it's time to peel the design off the paper and flip it over in order to iron the other side. The back side doesn't need as much time as the front, since the beads are already hot. Depending on the size and complexity of the design, ironing can take 2-5 minutes.

When that side is done, I peel it off, and congratulations, it's done! It's pretty hot, though, so I set it down to cool. Once the plastic has cooled down to a reasonable temperature, it's ready to display.

And that's how it's done! The full process can take from 20 mins to almost an hour. I might make digital versions of some of the coaches to use as references for people to make them at home. Who would you want the pattern for the most? I'll be saving these all under the tag #pixel coaches, so if you want to see who I've already made, check that tag out!

[menhera-info-archieve]

I found this site for Kandi patterns and discovered a lot of ones that would be good for menhera. I would highly recommend looking around as these could be good for accessories. These are all intended for pearler/fuse beads, but they also have patterns for kandi/pony beads

bandaid

heart syringe

cutter

pill

[fernthewhimsical]

Rainbow Divination

Rainbowmancy is not only the act of magic, but, much like in witchcraft, divination is also a part of it. (If you want it to be, anyway, you can do whatever you want forever!) Here are some different techniques for using rainbows in divination.

Reading Rainbows: When there is an actual rainbow in the sky, you could read the signs to divine. Look at the rainbow and consider the place on the horizon, depth of colour, full arc or just partial, beginning and end, etc.

Existing Decks: There are many decks available through either the creators or your local witchy/bookstore that have rainbow themes and symbolism. Some examples: Prism Oracle, Secret Language of Colour (I recommend!), Spectrowhirl Tarot, SoulSpace Oracle, Queer Tarot, Holographic RWS, Sacred Creators Oracle, Rainbow Tarot, Tarot at the End of the Rainbow.

Stone Scrying: What is says on the tin, scrying in rainbow stones, or if you have a quartz crystal, they sometimes can have rainbow inclusions which work really well.

Water Scrying: Take a glass or white bowl or cup and fill it with water. Add a few drops of coloured ink. Alcohol ink, writing ink, or acrylic inks work just fine. Look at how it flows, what patterns it makes, what symbols do you see? For meanings you could make your own dictionary, which I recommend, or use a tasseomancy (tealeaf reading) guide to get you started.

Rainbow Scyphomancy: This technique was generously shared with me by Nova. Scyphomancy means divination with a cup or goblet. With rainbow scyphomancy the white cup is first filled with water and then emptied. Drops of food colouring are added, and the cup is turned over three times, each one in a different direction, lastly the cup is swirled three times. The colours will spread over the white surface, which can then be read much in the same way as tasseomancy.

Paint Chips: These come in every shade and colour, so would be great for making your own deck. Write keywords or draw symbols on them the meanings of which match the colours.

Pendulum: A pendulum in one of the rainbow crystals for example. Or nowadays you have rainbow pendulums made from different crystals, either fused together, or beads stacked on top of each other (often called "chakra pendulum". We'll get into chakra's in the next bit). A small galaxy jar on a chain, or a small bottle filled with coloured sand, sugar, salt, or resin, will also make a great pendulum.

Crystal Casting Oracle: An osteomancy method using rainbow cystals, or crystals in each colour of the rainbow. Before I mentioned that my favourite combination is garnet, carnelian, citrine, aventurine, turquoise, sodalite, and amethyst. I use tumbled stones of these to cast on divination grids or mats. Much like charm casting. Each stone has their own meaning depending on where they land.

Encaustic Art: This is an art technique where coloured beeswax is heated on a small painting iron and then pressed to wood, or a special shiny paper. Artists can use this to create beautiful and intricate paintings, often of landscapes. This same technique, however, can also be used for divination. By intuitively adding colours and moving the painting iron, a layered painting can be made. The wax will pool, swirl, and leave open spots, making an interesting painting which you can see symbols, figures, and natural features, which can then be interpreted.

[Part of a Rainbowmancy series, masterpost here]

[puppy-bingus]

Does anyone have any patterns or ideas for agere 'themed' perler beads projects? Please send them my way if you have some or know where I can find any.

(perler beads are those plastic beads you fuse together with an iron, so it looks like Pixel art)

[perlervocas]

Hatsune Miku Nyanko perler bead pattern!

Free to use; reblogs appreciated!

[squeakitties]

i have never wanted to convert an image into a perler project more than i want to convert your pokemon in mundane clothes. and the lil buizel i love them sm! would you be okay with someone doing that? it would essentially be copying it down into a more pixel-y pattern to then use for fusing beads. just to have or put on a necklace not to sell

yeah go ahead!!!!

[eolewyn1010]

Downton Abbey Fashion 31 - 1920s evening dresses

The 1920s styles are much kinder to Mary than they are to Cora, whose evening dresses are a bit more swing-and-a-miss than they used to be.

Someday, you will find me strangled with a shapeless sack of a dress of black chiffon. There’s nothing wrong with this; the neckline is nice, the sleeves let the white gloves peek through to give a point of contrast, there’s some embroidery on the skirt. Which I can barely see, so there’s no point to commenting on it.

Well, to be fair, this is more interesting to look at. Unfortunately, the shape is very graceless on her. I guess the kind of embroidery they chose for this makes the fabric overall stiffer because poor Elizabeth McGovern doesn’t even look like she’s wearing a rectangle; she looks like the rectangle is wearing her. I do like this boat neckline that spreads out high on the collarbones, and thanks to thread in various shades of grey and blue we aren’t looking at a black blob, but. Uh. This ain’t it. Perhaps it looks better in motion.

A little better. At least the design being based on all gathers makes me think this would drape a little more nicely over her. The color is either a dark blue or teal, can’t tell for sure in this light, and then ten tons of black beading make up a few swirly patterns. To be honest, that element on her chest looks like pretzel to me.

Ugh. What is this. Why does she look like a grandma here? There you have the confirmation of my prejudices against white without contrast points – it really should be reserved for wedding gowns. Or Edwardian fashion when dresses still had a shape. Because this isn’t much of anything, really. It washes her out, it doesn’t draw the eye to her jewelry, and it’s not shaped to flatter her either. It has some beading, but it really doesn’t do much for me.

This is kind of nice, although the next dress will prove that this design on the front can be done better. But the black chiffon works well with the silk satin, and the embroidery brings in a little additional color. It’s rather shapeless again, but there’s only so much you can do in the 1920s.

Like this. I don’t know why I like this so much better tbh? It’s no more shaped than the last dress, and the way the sparkling squiggly lines embroidery is applied to the front has the same shape. Said embroidery is a little wider though, taking in all of her torso instead of lining out a rectangle on it. And I really love the chiffon sleeves on this one; they drape so nicely. Peach also admittedly is a color I think dresses her well. And that makes for a nice backdrop for jewelry – I have soft spot for the tassel pendant necklace in the second picture and the star tiara in the third.

And then there’s this, which I think is a very pretty dress design-wise, especially with that sweet little trim; it just doesn’t do Elizabeth McGovern’s figure any favors. Oh well. She wears it again in season 4, except she swaps out the under layer for a black chiffon dress / shirt instead of a grey one, and I think the color pops much better. Still does only so much with the shape; we’re in drop-waist country after all. The necklace she wears on the black is a thing of beauty though.

--------------

Do you know how many black evening dresses Little Miss “I hate black” introduces in this season? Four. They won’t be the last. This one is pretty much the least agreeable imo. This is a sack with shoulder straps and some gold trim, and nothing else.

Worlds better. This falls a little more flatteringly, and the black fabric (might be velvet) is covered in this delicate plant embroidery, giving the dress a soft sparkle all over. I don’t quite know about the necklace because it fuses so much into the dress that it’s barely visible, but then this means it definitely isn’t an eyesore.

Doubtlessly one of Mary’s loveliest dresses in her signature red, a plain but beautifully-draped chiffon. I love this neckline. I love the back view of it, too; that long silver counterweight on her necklace looks so nonsensically elegant on the red. I don’t know how this one manages to not look baggy despite the sash, perhaps because the waist is not dropped all the way to the hip bones, but the look is flawless. Also thanks to that gorgeous, curlicue-branch silver hairpiece.

A black dress that Mary wears again next season, although I couldn’t tell you why. It’s got some silver and bronze flower embroidery going on in the front, some chiffon layered over opaque fabric. Par for the course. This is unspectacular. Next!

A sweet burgundy dress that Mary wears again in season 4; I don’t love this quite as much as the red one further up because it’s cut more as a rectangle and isn’t so nicely drapey. It still looks very pretty though, and the drop waist doesn’t turn this into a complete sack because the upper layer is chiffon and Mary still has some of a figure in this. Also, lovely beading frame; I like it.

And here we dive into her pregnancy dresses. We’re starting with this simple little number in teal silk satin; it only has a little beaded leaf-shape on each shoulder and other than that lets the shiny fabric stand for itself. Half-long sleeves, although they are slit and the corners rounded, giving them a little shape.

This one looks a little dowdy by comparison, but perhaps I should just get over myself and warm up to these apron-like dresses because it’s 1920 and they aren’t going anywhere. I think the lower part of the embroidery is a little clunky; at least I like the maple leaves and brambles better than this fleur-de-lis-esque element. The coloring is nice though, the red and bronze popping on the black.

Yay, grey chiffon with grey embroidery. Okay neckline, but that’s pretty much where my grace towards rectangles ends. This is shapeless and unspectacular, and the art deco embroidery is not so much that Mary couldn’t have afforded to wear a little more bling to this.

[the-headless-horsedude]

i've decided, since i don't have enough things going on, to make the scavengers out of perler beads! up first was krok and spinister!

[emilysidhe]

This is a plant runner:

I made it a few years ago. It’s double knit, which is a knitting technique where you cast on stitches that you intend to be on the front of the piece alternating with stitches that you intend to be on the back of the piece and use two balls of yarn in alternating knits and purls to keep some stitches in the front and let som drift to the back, so that you’re basically knitting a giant pocket. You can switch the front and back yarn to make a reversible color pattern.

It’s also felted. Felting is when you take 100% wool yarn and use agitation, heat, or friction to induce the fibers to fuse together, essentially shrinking it on purpose. This makes a much stiffer and sturdier fabric that holds its shape and is more watertight.

This happened because I wanted a plant runner and I thought, “Why don’t more people make double-knit, felted plant runners? I’ve never seen a pattern for one, but it makes so much sense! Double knitting is super flat even with color work, so the pots will be stable, and felted wool is so waterproof that water actually beads on it, so it’ll help with spills. Plus it won’t felt any more in a delicates bag with cold water on a delicate cycle, so I’ll be able to machine wash it. This is a great idea - I’m gonna try it!”

Well, I found out why more people don’t do this, because it was a pain in the neck to make. Because I was shrinking it, it had to be larger than I wanted the finished piece; because it was double knit, I had to do twice as much knitting to get the front and back done; and because of the color work, I had to pay attention to what I was doing the whole time. Most of the time when I’m knitting rectangles like this, I only have to repeat the pattern 3-4 times and it internalizes to the point where I start having an intuitive sense of what to do next and start only having to glance down occasionally to check where I am. I can do complex cables with the TV on and watch the screen most of the time - I’ve knit simpler stuff with an ebook open on a propped screen reading as I go. This thing I had to keep looking at the entire time. Between the double knitting and the leaf pattern, I had to constantly watch what I was doing. This thing took forever! If I calculated out the hours I spent on this as money, there no way I’d spend even a fraction of it on a *plant runner.*

And yet … I had barely finished it when I was already thinking about making another one. You see, I was right. This really does make a fantastic plant runner. It catches the dirt and dried leaves that fall off the plants and keeps them from messing my table, water does bead on it so it protects my table from spills beautifully, and the plant pots sit very stably on it. It’s great!

But I used a kind of wool that comes in several different colors, but is all undyed - it’s from white or brown sheep. I was worried the darkest and lightest colors - that cream that you think of when you hear undyed wool and a dark chocolate brown - would be too much contrast and I went with the second darkest and lightest (a heathered dark brown and an oatmeal off-white). But I forgot how fuzzy wool gets when felted like this and I want a second crack at it with the higher contrast colors to make the pattern pop more. (This is one of the rare cases where the pattern is actually slightly more distinct in photographs than irl.) There’s even a small voice that I think of as, “That is the craft-devil talking,” whispering that I should try it out again with wool yarn that comes in actual colors and see what it looks like as green-and-something.

Fortunately, everyone I know seems to be having babies at the same time, so it’ll probably be 3-5 years before I make anything for myself that isn’t a quick, weekend project between yet another baby blanket.

But every time I wash it, there is that craft-devil. Whispering.

[aikoiya]

LoZ: TotK - Champignon Corsair Set

Here's a set that I think might go well with the Cece hat. (So long as you get rid of the hair & makeup.)

A white frock coat that reaches down to the ankles with a Cece Brand mushroom patterned border at the bottom & gold detailing. White musketeer shirt with gold-lined ruffled sleeve cuffs, the ruffled cuffs sticking out from under the frock coat's cuffs. Maybe make the collar resemble the odd gold netting that Cece & Sophie have for their collars & have it stick up past the redingote's collar. Also, a feather to the hat.

High-waisted double-buttoned Victorian breeches. Black ornate men's captain boots with gold Cece Brand buckles; breeches legs tucked into the boots. Lacey white & gold-lined men's cravat with a Cece Brand brooch. Gold Cece Brand buttons. Buttons & brooch resemble the gold Cece applique on the canon hat. Gold hoop pirate earrings with the Cece Brand symbol & a turquoise bead on each. The lace ruffles should match the ruffles on the canon Cece hat & the cravat resembles the lace veil at the back of the hat. Also, puffy mushroom shoulder pads.

(I've finally got the cravat to where I feel satisfied! Though, I'm still not entirely sure about the pattern I used for the lapels...)

Maybe I should add a gilet?

And finally, a version featuring the OG Cece Pattern.

Still got some work to do, but I think I'm almost finished.

I'm also not sure whether to keep the redingote as is or make it more like Swordfighter Peach's, which would make it less likely for Link to get the coat tangled around his legs.

Also, 86 the bright pink hypermodern hair that covers the eyes & the blue lipstick. Just let them die in a fire.

Link's natural hair could, instead, be pulled into a stylized Victorian men's ponytail with a leather Viking's hair tie; Cece Brand, of course.

And, finally, maybe give him a thin mustache & goatee like this.

(Made using Rinmaru's Mega Fantasy Avatar game. It's the closest I could get to how I think he'd look in it. Just with the ponytail against his back. I just liked how nice & curly this one was.)

---

I just feel like something like this would match Cece's ostentatious style while also managing to look classy at the same time. Because the hat when paired with the canon hair & makeup looks like something that a trashy whore with a rich sugar daddy might wear.

I'm not sure what I'd make the effect or the Set Bonus, but I'll think about that later. Maybe something like Mushroom Gatherer, which could allow you to possibly get 2 mushrooms instead of one when you pick them & the more of the set you wear, the higher the chance? Or it could increase the effectiveness of mushrooms when cooking? Also, maybe the Set Bonus could be something like Scimitar Proficiency because Scimitars resemble cutlasses?

I think I have it.

Effect: Mushroom Gather (doubles the number of mushrooms you can get when harvesting mushrooms)

Set Bonus: Swashbuckling Mastery (one-handed swords deal more damage, increased speed when weilding a one-handed sword, easier dodging, & faster Flurry Rush; weilding Scimitars doubles this effect)

Secret Abilities: Champignier (mushroom chef; increases the effectiveness of mushrooms when cooking), Shroom Duelist (weapons or shields with mushrooms fused to them makes mushroom effect twice as effective), increased swim speed, & increased sail speed.

Secret Abilities being the ones that you have to discover for yourself. Like how the Royal Guard uniform also has increased swim speed despite it not being listed.

---

Edit: Listen, ya'll seem to be missing the fact that I don't like the original design for the Cece Hat because the hair & makeup are fugly.

Very few people can pull off the blue lipstick look & Link is very much not one of them. Same with the neon pink hair in a weird ass bob that covers the eyes. Put those 2 together & I don't know if there's anyone who'd look good in them.

I mean... it's possible to make that lipstick shade look good on him, but the hair especially makes that difficult to do. Even just keeping his natural hair color would vastly improve the overall synergy of the colors.

This isn't something that I'm saying out of "bigotry." I'm saying it because the pink bob with the lapis lipstick looks more at home on a clown.

I wouldn't even like them on a woman, so if you take this as some sort of slight against crossdressers or men who wear makeup, then that tells me more about how you think of them than what I do.

FYI, I didn't mind the Gerudo Set or the Frostbite Set as much as I do the Cece Hat. Because while I'm not a fan of crossdressing or drag & I think that they were too on the feminine side for what I think looks best on Link, at least they looked good.

Because good aesthetics are good aesthetics no matter what sex you are. And, I hate to break it to you, but not everyone is going to look good in something & there's no changing that. Some people look good in one thing & other people look good in other things. And Link doesn't look good in a bright pink bob & cobalt lipstick.

Take it or leave it.

LoZ Wild Masterlist

[kscosplaycatalog]

No. 17 - 2012

Character: Erza Scarlet (Armorless ver.)  Series: Fairy Tail by Mashima Hiro

Cosplayer Credits: - Natsu : My brother - Gray : Jaiden - Lucy : Kirky

Photog Credits: - Axel - David Ho - Nikki Smith Photography

==========

This is genuinely one of my absolute favorite costumes, and one of the ones I'm still so proud of today!

Like Shiki, I decided to make this particular version of Erza's because I saw an opportunity to make something I'd always wanted to make: a hakama! Does she actually wear a hakama? Not really, but who cares?! 

==========

My wig is from Epic Cosplay Wigs. The top is two parts. The first was made from white spandex and is essentially a tube top. I then cover it with drug-store gauze that sticks to itself once it's in place. The bottom, which you can't really see, is made from the same white spandex as the top. I made a pattern from a pair of tights I already had only it goes down to just before my knees.

The hakama is made from red denim-like cotton. I used Folkwear pattern 151, Hakama and Kataginu. I used appliqué (HeatnBond Lite) for the flames at the bottom; the fabrics were similar to the red. For my back board, I fused some spare red to a few pieces of 16th of an inch-thick piece of interfacing. It is washable this way but still stiff as a board and bendable like professional hakama.

I originally wanted to do the tattoo with Hollywood Ink Henna pens and a stencil, but when we got to the convention Friday, we saw they had temporary tattoos in all of the colors we needed and we figured that'd be easier and faster. Plus, most of us were wearing things the next day that would've shown the guildmark so we didn't want them to clash. I later bought actual temp tattoo pens from Stargazers.

I made Benizakura to go with this costume in 2017. It is made of 1/4 plywood for the core blade and hilt. The tsuba (guard) is made of 3/4 plywood that I sanded down to about 5/16 of an inch. I also sanded the hilt pieces from 1/4 to about 1/8 so the hilt came to 1/2 an inch. I used thin foam to finish the designs: the over-layer on the tsuba, the swirls on the hilt, and the pummel. Lastly, the tassel is made out of actual tassel, three wooden craft beads painted red, and screw in loop painted gold. The tassel was beaded and then, after strung through the loop, glue into the top bead.

And speaking of late add-ons... I also didn't have the time to make her earrings but I did eventually, so look out for them in some of these shots. They are made out of a half-inch square acrylic rod that I sanded down using a grinder wheel. A friend carefully drilled a small hole for the wire that I twisted, covered with a bead, and attached to a clamp earring, since I don't have pierced ears. Everything was spray painted to match.

Now my brother's costume was also a lot of fun to make. Aside from his height, he really does have a lot in common with Natsu, so it was a lot of fun to be these two. We got the wig from Fantasy Sheep on eBay; came pre-styled.

The scarf was made out of white fleece. Essentially, I made a pillowcase-like piece, inserted a thin layer of polyfoam, sewed the fringes between the "pillowcase"'s sides as it was shut, and sewed the different sections with black thread. I'm very proud of it because it bulges up and sections off like the references.

I used dark navy blue broadcloth for the front fabric and I insisted it should be reversable as per the Tenroujima Arc, I used grey broadcloth as the lining fabric. The trim is gold poly-cotton. I modified a simple shirt pattern I already had as the vest was not very complicated. We actually bought both the belt buckle and interchangeable belt from PiercingPros on Amazon.

Same fabric and idea as the vest, for the "skirt." I measured his waist, marking the middle, and then halving that measurement to add to it to get the bottom measurement, lining up the middles. (In case that was confusing, here's a formula: W = waist measurement; B = Bottom measurement; W + (W/2) = B) It connects at the top, under the belt with hook-n-eye clasps.

I modified the pants pattern from Kouma. I used white broadcloth held up with an elastic waistband. The calf ties are extra navy broadcloth fashioned like trim after bunching the ends of the pants and have hook and eye clasps on the inside seam. The knots are made separately and then sewn into place They were actually made by my friend Kirky.

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Erza: Cost: $60 Time: 16 hrs

Natsu: Cost: $60 Time: 10 hrs

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This costume has won the following award: - Best Anime Group @ Tate's NOT at ComicCon in 2012